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Oriphiel · 10-10-2015, 11:04 AM

Chapter Twenty Seven

After signalling each other, Cleo and Ricardo had come up with a rudimentary plan. Their weapons couldn't harm the device, but after hearing Retix shout at Tyl to be more careful with his aim, they became certain that an overcharged alien rifle could certainly make short work of it. Ricardo stood up and fired at Tyl, forcing him to stay back behind his cover, while Cleo dashed towards his position. Just as Ricardo's clip ran out, Cleo reached her target, pipe in hand. Tyl came out from behind his cover to fire at Ricardo, and Cleo struck him in the jaw with her pipe, sending him falling backwards. However, he refused to let go of his rifle, and he aimed it up at Cleo as she began to grapple with him for it. Just before Tyl pulled the trigger, Cleo pushed the barrel of the rifle away, and the shot hurtled harmlessly to the side. Though Cleo was tenacious and had caught him by surprise, Tyl was still a powerful enemy, and he managed to push her off of him. At that time, Ricardo was running to assist Cleo, throwing his empty submachine gun to the side as he was now completely out of ammo.

Tyl saw him coming, knife in hand, and fired a shot at him to keep him at bay. Ricardo jumped behind a series of barely operating monitors, however the shot still managed to graze him as he tried to dodge it, burning his right arm. Eager to end the fight, Tyl pulled the lever on his gun, overcharging it slightly, as he aimed it at the monitors that Ricardo had taken cover behind. Desperate to stop him, Cleo lept to her feet and tackled Tyl from behind, preventing him from firing his rifle. As the two grappled, Tyl elbowed Cleo in the ribs, before positioning himself to face her. He pushed the lever on the gun away from himself as he pointed it towards Cleo, preparing to shoot her, but unwilling to hit her with a massive overcharged shot in such close proximity, as it would very likely destroy the both of them. Cleo reached for his rifle as he aimed it, pushing it away, and Tyl used his free hand to grab Cleo's arm, trying to force it away from his rifle. His fingers began to dig into Cleo's arm as he tightened his unnaturally powerful grip, and she let out a cry of pain, before jabbing a thumb into one of Tyl's eyes.

On the other side of the room, Retix and Luke were working furiously to connect the device to the back up generator, and they were coming closer to accomplishing their task. However, in the chaos following Sam's overload, the generator had been somewhat damaged, and Retix struggled to repair it. By this time, the device was beginning to lose it's hold on the soldiers outside, and the battle would be lost for the aliens if it wasn't quickly connected to a source of power. Meanwhile, Ricardo had gotten back to his feet, and he rejoined the fight. As Cleo dug her thumb further into Tyl's eye socket, he tightened his grip on her arm, however she refused to take her hold off of his rifle. Ricardo ran up and tried to stab Tyl with his knife, however the alien released his grip on Cleo's arm, and grabbed Ricardo's hand before the knife could enter his chest. As Ricardo struggled to break free from Tyl's grip, the blade pivoted and sliced deep into Tyl's wrist. Letting out a cry of pain, Tyl kicked Ricardo in the shin, causing him to stumble backwards. Cleo redoubled her efforts to seize Tyl's rifle, but the alien struggled fiercely against her, putting himself into a position where he could raise one of his legs against her chest, before using it to push her off of him.

As Tyl stood up, Ricardo slashed at his throat with his knife. Tyl quickly stepped backwards, dodging the strike, while raising his rifle. Before he could pull the trigger, Cleo struck him in the arm with her pipe, which she had found on the ground after Tyl had kicked her away. As the pipe connected with his elbow, Tyl lost his grip on the rifle, and it fell towards the device. Ricardo made a dash for the gun, however Tyl was not yet ready to give up. Though the strike had certainly hurt him, it didn't completely stun Tyl, and he quickly ran forward and tackled Ricardo just before he could pick up the rifle, sending them both crashing into the device. Cleo was not far behind, and as Ricardo and Tyl both grabbed at the gun, she swung her pipe down at the alien's head. Tyl rolled to the side to avoid the strike, losing his grip on the rifle, and he then kept Cleo away by kicking her injured arm, which she grabbed in pain as she dropped the pipe and fell to a knee. As Ricardo finally got his hands on the rifle, he and the alien both quickly got to their feet. Without wasting any time, Ricardo aimed it at Tyl, who grabbed the barrel with one hand while punching Ricardo in the throat with the other. Tyl took possession of the gun as Ricardo stumbled backwards, and he immediately fired a shot. Ricardo was killed as the blast struck him, and his body was knocked back into a heap of broken machinery.

Cleo had recovered from the earlier strike, getting back to her feet as soon as possible, and she was charging at Tyl just as he turned around to shoot her. She tackled him, pushing him up against the device, and they once again grappled for control of the gun. This time, however, Cleo only had one arm to fight with. With very little energy left in her, she knew that she couldn't possibly contend with him for much longer. Repositioning himself, Tyl pressed Cleo against the device, and began to push the rifle towards her throat, preparing to crush her windpipe. Normally, this would be an easy task for someone of his strength to accomplish, however Tyl's arms had been injured earlier in the fight. Even so, he was still able to overpower her, and as she held her good arm up against the rifle, all she could do against the inhumanly powerful alien was slightly slow him down. With only seconds to live, she cleared her mind. Looking at the gun, she saw that her hand was close to the lever near the trigger. Earlier, when Qez had first fired a shot at the intruders, Cleo had noticed that she made her shot larger than normal by manipulating the lever on her gun, and she had also seen Tyl do the same thing when he had earlier prepared to fire an overcharged shot at Ricardo as he was taking cover. Without hesitation, she quickly pushed the lever towards the stock, charging up the rifle as much as possible, and then moved her arm to the right until her hand was at the barrel. Tyl's eyes widened as he realized what she was doing, but before he could react, Cleo was turning her head as far to the side as she could, and pulling the very end of the barrel towards the device, so that the tip was pressing into it. At the same time, she raised her injured arm, which caused her a great deal of pain, and put her bloody hand on the trigger. All of this happened in the span of a second, and before Tyl could pull the barrel of the rifle away from the device, Cleo pulled the trigger.

The overcharged shot instantly killed the both of them, as the device exploded in a shower of flames and sparks. Retix and Luke ceased their work on the back up generator in the corner of the room, and ducked down. The massive blast from the rifle continued on, destroying everything it touched, eventually leaving a large rift in the wall as it left the building. Outside, as the shot flew above the battlefield, the people enslaved by the aliens began to fall to the ground, void of memory and free at least. Retix stood and stared at the shattered remains of the device, as it occasionally shot out a series of sparks. Seemingly void of emotion, she began to walk forward. After taking a few steps, she was hit by the sunlight pouring in through the hole left by the blast, and she squinted her eyes as she turned towards it. Looking outside at the beautiful world before her, all she could see was what she had failed to protect. "It's over," was all she could bring herself to say. There was no way that she alone could build another device in time to fight the coming invasion.

Luke walked towards her, unsure of what to say. Suddenly, a flash of anger came over Retix, and she pulled her sword out of the scabbard on her back as she walked towards the ruined doorway. "Where are you going?" asked Luke in surprise. Without stopping, she replied "To kill as many of the allies as I can." "Retix, stop!" he yelled as he followed after her. She turned to face him, and replied "Why? What else can I possibly hope to accomplish? I have failed your people, just as I failed my own. My friends are waiting for me in the darkness." As Retix turned to walk away, Luke put a hand on her shoulder to stop her, and said "If you go out there, they'll kill you in an instant." "Hopefully," replied Retix, as she shrugged his hand away and continued walking towards the door. "You can't be serious. You've fought, and beat, the odds before. When the Threx invaded your world, they should have killed you, but they didn't. When the Blue Shirts betrayed you and the others, they should have overrun you, but they didn't. And after the allied gangs threw everything they had at you, even though they destroyed the device, you're still standing. After all you've been through, you're just gonna give up?" he asked. Retix turned and punched him hard in the jaw, sending him to the ground. "You have no idea what I've been through!" she yelled. "You could never understand the horrors that befell my people because of my mistakes! The only thing that kept me from ending my shameful existence was the chance that I could one day attain some form of redemption, but now the universe has denied me even that!" "So what?" replied Luke, as he got back to his feet.

As Retix looked at him, he continued, saying "You know what? You're right. I don't know what you've been through. I don't even know much about you at all. But I do know that no matter what you've done in the past, here and now, you're my friend, and I won't let you run off to die." Retix put a hand to her forehead, nursing a sudden painful migraine, as she replied "What else can I do?" Luke thought for a moment, before answering "Keep going. The way I see it, we still have a chance, even if it's not much of a chance at all. When the Threx get here, we may or may not be able to stop them, but we can at least make them work to conquer the planet." Retix lowered her hand, and gazed at the remains of the device that she and the others had worked so hard to build. Eventually, she answered "Maybe you're right. It would be more fitting for me to die fighting the Threx, rather than throw my life away before they even arrive." Luke narrowed his eyes, and replied "That's not what I said." Retix shrugged, saying "Forgive the morbid interpretation. Regardless... you're right. We do still have a chance, slim as it is. We can convince others of the danger, and build up as strong of a force as possible. And when the Threx finally come... we'll do whatever we can to slow them down." After looking back at the device once more, she sheathed her sword and began to walk towards the ruined doorway. However, on her way, she passed by the battered corpse of Ricardo, and stopped to look down at it. "They died for nothing," she said, thinking of the intruders that had sacrificed everything to stop her. "Maybe," replied Luke. After raising her hand to nurse another headache, Retix walked through the doorway. Luke soon followed her, and the room fell silent.

10-10-2015, 11:04 AM	#46 (permalink)
Oriphiel Ask me how! Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: The States Posts: 5,355	Chapter Twenty Seven After signalling each other, Cleo and Ricardo had come up with a rudimentary plan. Their weapons couldn't harm the device, but after hearing Retix shout at Tyl to be more careful with his aim, they became certain that an overcharged alien rifle could certainly make short work of it. Ricardo stood up and fired at Tyl, forcing him to stay back behind his cover, while Cleo dashed towards his position. Just as Ricardo's clip ran out, Cleo reached her target, pipe in hand. Tyl came out from behind his cover to fire at Ricardo, and Cleo struck him in the jaw with her pipe, sending him falling backwards. However, he refused to let go of his rifle, and he aimed it up at Cleo as she began to grapple with him for it. Just before Tyl pulled the trigger, Cleo pushed the barrel of the rifle away, and the shot hurtled harmlessly to the side. Though Cleo was tenacious and had caught him by surprise, Tyl was still a powerful enemy, and he managed to push her off of him. At that time, Ricardo was running to assist Cleo, throwing his empty submachine gun to the side as he was now completely out of ammo. Tyl saw him coming, knife in hand, and fired a shot at him to keep him at bay. Ricardo jumped behind a series of barely operating monitors, however the shot still managed to graze him as he tried to dodge it, burning his right arm. Eager to end the fight, Tyl pulled the lever on his gun, overcharging it slightly, as he aimed it at the monitors that Ricardo had taken cover behind. Desperate to stop him, Cleo lept to her feet and tackled Tyl from behind, preventing him from firing his rifle. As the two grappled, Tyl elbowed Cleo in the ribs, before positioning himself to face her. He pushed the lever on the gun away from himself as he pointed it towards Cleo, preparing to shoot her, but unwilling to hit her with a massive overcharged shot in such close proximity, as it would very likely destroy the both of them. Cleo reached for his rifle as he aimed it, pushing it away, and Tyl used his free hand to grab Cleo's arm, trying to force it away from his rifle. His fingers began to dig into Cleo's arm as he tightened his unnaturally powerful grip, and she let out a cry of pain, before jabbing a thumb into one of Tyl's eyes. On the other side of the room, Retix and Luke were working furiously to connect the device to the back up generator, and they were coming closer to accomplishing their task. However, in the chaos following Sam's overload, the generator had been somewhat damaged, and Retix struggled to repair it. By this time, the device was beginning to lose it's hold on the soldiers outside, and the battle would be lost for the aliens if it wasn't quickly connected to a source of power. Meanwhile, Ricardo had gotten back to his feet, and he rejoined the fight. As Cleo dug her thumb further into Tyl's eye socket, he tightened his grip on her arm, however she refused to take her hold off of his rifle. Ricardo ran up and tried to stab Tyl with his knife, however the alien released his grip on Cleo's arm, and grabbed Ricardo's hand before the knife could enter his chest. As Ricardo struggled to break free from Tyl's grip, the blade pivoted and sliced deep into Tyl's wrist. Letting out a cry of pain, Tyl kicked Ricardo in the shin, causing him to stumble backwards. Cleo redoubled her efforts to seize Tyl's rifle, but the alien struggled fiercely against her, putting himself into a position where he could raise one of his legs against her chest, before using it to push her off of him. As Tyl stood up, Ricardo slashed at his throat with his knife. Tyl quickly stepped backwards, dodging the strike, while raising his rifle. Before he could pull the trigger, Cleo struck him in the arm with her pipe, which she had found on the ground after Tyl had kicked her away. As the pipe connected with his elbow, Tyl lost his grip on the rifle, and it fell towards the device. Ricardo made a dash for the gun, however Tyl was not yet ready to give up. Though the strike had certainly hurt him, it didn't completely stun Tyl, and he quickly ran forward and tackled Ricardo just before he could pick up the rifle, sending them both crashing into the device. Cleo was not far behind, and as Ricardo and Tyl both grabbed at the gun, she swung her pipe down at the alien's head. Tyl rolled to the side to avoid the strike, losing his grip on the rifle, and he then kept Cleo away by kicking her injured arm, which she grabbed in pain as she dropped the pipe and fell to a knee. As Ricardo finally got his hands on the rifle, he and the alien both quickly got to their feet. Without wasting any time, Ricardo aimed it at Tyl, who grabbed the barrel with one hand while punching Ricardo in the throat with the other. Tyl took possession of the gun as Ricardo stumbled backwards, and he immediately fired a shot. Ricardo was killed as the blast struck him, and his body was knocked back into a heap of broken machinery. Cleo had recovered from the earlier strike, getting back to her feet as soon as possible, and she was charging at Tyl just as he turned around to shoot her. She tackled him, pushing him up against the device, and they once again grappled for control of the gun. This time, however, Cleo only had one arm to fight with. With very little energy left in her, she knew that she couldn't possibly contend with him for much longer. Repositioning himself, Tyl pressed Cleo against the device, and began to push the rifle towards her throat, preparing to crush her windpipe. Normally, this would be an easy task for someone of his strength to accomplish, however Tyl's arms had been injured earlier in the fight. Even so, he was still able to overpower her, and as she held her good arm up against the rifle, all she could do against the inhumanly powerful alien was slightly slow him down. With only seconds to live, she cleared her mind. Looking at the gun, she saw that her hand was close to the lever near the trigger. Earlier, when Qez had first fired a shot at the intruders, Cleo had noticed that she made her shot larger than normal by manipulating the lever on her gun, and she had also seen Tyl do the same thing when he had earlier prepared to fire an overcharged shot at Ricardo as he was taking cover. Without hesitation, she quickly pushed the lever towards the stock, charging up the rifle as much as possible, and then moved her arm to the right until her hand was at the barrel. Tyl's eyes widened as he realized what she was doing, but before he could react, Cleo was turning her head as far to the side as she could, and pulling the very end of the barrel towards the device, so that the tip was pressing into it. At the same time, she raised her injured arm, which caused her a great deal of pain, and put her bloody hand on the trigger. All of this happened in the span of a second, and before Tyl could pull the barrel of the rifle away from the device, Cleo pulled the trigger. The overcharged shot instantly killed the both of them, as the device exploded in a shower of flames and sparks. Retix and Luke ceased their work on the back up generator in the corner of the room, and ducked down. The massive blast from the rifle continued on, destroying everything it touched, eventually leaving a large rift in the wall as it left the building. Outside, as the shot flew above the battlefield, the people enslaved by the aliens began to fall to the ground, void of memory and free at least. Retix stood and stared at the shattered remains of the device, as it occasionally shot out a series of sparks. Seemingly void of emotion, she began to walk forward. After taking a few steps, she was hit by the sunlight pouring in through the hole left by the blast, and she squinted her eyes as she turned towards it. Looking outside at the beautiful world before her, all she could see was what she had failed to protect. "It's over," was all she could bring herself to say. There was no way that she alone could build another device in time to fight the coming invasion. Luke walked towards her, unsure of what to say. Suddenly, a flash of anger came over Retix, and she pulled her sword out of the scabbard on her back as she walked towards the ruined doorway. "Where are you going?" asked Luke in surprise. Without stopping, she replied "To kill as many of the allies as I can." "Retix, stop!" he yelled as he followed after her. She turned to face him, and replied "Why? What else can I possibly hope to accomplish? I have failed your people, just as I failed my own. My friends are waiting for me in the darkness." As Retix turned to walk away, Luke put a hand on her shoulder to stop her, and said "If you go out there, they'll kill you in an instant." "Hopefully," replied Retix, as she shrugged his hand away and continued walking towards the door. "You can't be serious. You've fought, and beat, the odds before. When the Threx invaded your world, they should have killed you, but they didn't. When the Blue Shirts betrayed you and the others, they should have overrun you, but they didn't. And after the allied gangs threw everything they had at you, even though they destroyed the device, you're still standing. After all you've been through, you're just gonna give up?" he asked. Retix turned and punched him hard in the jaw, sending him to the ground. "You have no idea what I've been through!" she yelled. "You could never understand the horrors that befell my people because of my mistakes! The only thing that kept me from ending my shameful existence was the chance that I could one day attain some form of redemption, but now the universe has denied me even that!" "So what?" replied Luke, as he got back to his feet. As Retix looked at him, he continued, saying "You know what? You're right. I don't know what you've been through. I don't even know much about you at all. But I do know that no matter what you've done in the past, here and now, you're my friend, and I won't let you run off to die." Retix put a hand to her forehead, nursing a sudden painful migraine, as she replied "What else can I do?" Luke thought for a moment, before answering "Keep going. The way I see it, we still have a chance, even if it's not much of a chance at all. When the Threx get here, we may or may not be able to stop them, but we can at least make them work to conquer the planet." Retix lowered her hand, and gazed at the remains of the device that she and the others had worked so hard to build. Eventually, she answered "Maybe you're right. It would be more fitting for me to die fighting the Threx, rather than throw my life away before they even arrive." Luke narrowed his eyes, and replied "That's not what I said." Retix shrugged, saying "Forgive the morbid interpretation. Regardless... you're right. We do still have a chance, slim as it is. We can convince others of the danger, and build up as strong of a force as possible. And when the Threx finally come... we'll do whatever we can to slow them down." After looking back at the device once more, she sheathed her sword and began to walk towards the ruined doorway. However, on her way, she passed by the battered corpse of Ricardo, and stopped to look down at it. "They died for nothing," she said, thinking of the intruders that had sacrificed everything to stop her. "Maybe," replied Luke. After raising her hand to nurse another headache, Retix walked through the doorway. Luke soon followed her, and the room fell silent. __________________ ---------------------- \|---Mic's Albums---\| ---------------------- ----------------------------- \|---Deafbox Industries---\| ----------------------------- Last edited by Oriphiel; 10-11-2015 at 03:37 AM.